WarnerMedia to Create $100 Million Relief Fund For Crews

WarnerMedia will commit “more than $100 million” to help crew members on its shows and movies that have had to pause production during the coronavirus pandemic, CEO John Stankey told employees in a memo Friday afternoon.

Stankey also outlined some of the strategic pivots the company has made in recent weeks in order to respond to the crisis, including experimenting with accelerate home viewing, disrupting traditional theatrical windows, with all theaters closed.

Stankey also wrote that HBO Max is on course to launch in May.

“Our tech teams have been operating under very unique circumstances and have adapted quickly to a new way of working so that the launch of HBO Max remains on schedule for May; and the marketing team has had to recast plans to reach potential subscribers in innovative ways,” he wrote.

He also acknowledged the company’s advertising challenges in the current environment, and what it is doing to try and remedy them.

“In general, advertising will face headwinds in no small part due to the cancellation of NCAA March Madness and the suspension of the NBA season,” he wrote. “As a result, our ad sales teams have been collaborating with Xandr and our clients to develop innovative solutions that provide new value to brands across our portfolio, including our linear networks where we’ve seen substantial increases in ratings as more people are working from and staying at home.”